The Rebel in Me continues...

My mom never found out about my "assistance" in the laundry room. In fact, when I told her years later, I really don't think she believed me. (That's what happens when you're a rebel but no one see it in you.)

I was a shy kid growing up. You would be too, if you were an identical twin and everyone was always tugging and pulling and making us stand side by side and staring at us to see if they could tell us apart. What finally made the difference was when I got my four front teeth knocked out by hanging upside down...rebel style. I saw red...but I'm sure my mom saw green as she rushed me to the dentist office. It was a bad rap...no longer could I eat apples, use a straw, or whistle (I still can't whistle to this day).

I decided to be good at something, although I didn't know what. I collected rocks really well but my older sister did that too. I could hide my peas under my plate rim pretty well, but my twin sis did that too. So, I secretly cursed in my head....never outloud because I just felt that God would hear me if I said it outloud. I only spelled it to myself...words like, A-S-S and B-U-T-T and H-E-L-L. I thought that if there was ever a contest for cursing, I may decide to enter and maybe even win. Then, after hearing that bad kids cursed but good kids didn't, I decided that I just didn't have it in me.

This led me to believe that all of my rebel training was going to go out the door unless I hung with someone who really was a rebel. The rebel appeared in 3rd grade. She was a Black girl, one of a few in our school and in our grade. She had one eye and no one ever felt the courage to ask her why she only had one eye. We all feared her because when she spoke, she commanded attention. She had what we'd call now, "attitude". She didn't care what anyone else thought or wanted...it was all about her. Our teacher was a racist. She was known for swatting the Black kids with a ruler. My sister and I got swatted for getting our times tables wrong...that is, until my mom had a "meeting" with her. Anyway, Mrs. Kilby (I'm not going to change her name...she's probably passed on by now anyway) would always pick on Ms. Attitude. I think she loved to see her react. At times, we'd all shake in fear but not Ms. Attitude. The teacher would walk up to her desk and slam the ruler down just to watch her jump. Ms. Attitude NEVER jumped. One day, though, Mrs. Kilby grabbed Ms. Attitude by her dress collar and said, "Young lady, I am going to change your mood!" Ms. Attitude stuck her chin out and said, "Ain't nobody gonna change my mood!" Pins dropping could be heard in the classroom. No one had ever dared to stand up to Mrs. Kilby....until now. Mrs. Kilby turned red and told Ms. Attitude to go to the office. From that moment on, I practice in the mirror, "Ain't nobody gonna change my mood." I was all set for when Mrs. Kilby decided to stand over my desk.

To be continued.....